Janzlean Laughinghouse, PhD, has been appointed as Addiction Recovery Program Director at Capital Area Human Services (CAHS) agency. Dr. Laughinghouse will oversee the implementation of several addiction recovery grants dedicated to reducing the opioid epidemic in the agency's seven-parish region.
CAHS has been awarded several grants, and another is expected in the near future. According to Jan Kasofsky, PhD, CAHS Executive Director, "These grant activities range from grassroots communications and advocacy activation, to work with the Department of Corrections and prison/local jail reentry programs."
Dr. Laughinghouse has served as a social worker in the agency's Adult Addiction Recovery Program for the past three years. As program director, she will work closely with CAHS medical and executive team staff on medication assisted treatment (MAT), and referral to MAT providers. Prison reform legislation could require an expansion of addiction recovery services by all human services districts to provide treatment access to this emerging population. Dr. Laughinghouse will oversee clinic- based services on the agency's Government Street campus, and in the Felicianas.
She is also an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Social Work at Southern University. Dr. Laughinghouse has over 19 years of experience in substance abuse treatment settings. Within the field of addictions, she has worked extensively with women, veterans, individuals who are dually diagnosed, and those who have experienced trauma and chronic homelessness.
She received her B.A. degree in Psychology from Bennett College, a Master of Social Work from the joint degree program at North Carolina A & T State University and The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a PhD in Human Development and Family Studies from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Prior to relocating to Baton Rouge in June 2014, Dr. Laughinghouse was Program Coordinator/Assistant Professor in the Social Work Program at Bennett College, where she served as director of the Social Work Program and taught practice courses.